Mr. President, I was not a sharer in the counsels that originated this measure. Had I been consulted, I know not that I should have originally advised the experiment in its actual form. Clearly, something was necessary for the sake of the currency, and for the sake of the country; and after proper consideration the present system was adopted. Operations under it have already commenced; $60,000,000 of capital have been organized according to its requirements. It is too late to retreat. It only remains that you should go forward, not sluggishly, heavily, reluctantly, but bravely, confidently. The financial enterprise already begun must be finished and protected. Here I cannot hesitate. If the system is to be maintained, if it is not to be utterly abandoned, it must be placed under the most favorable auspices, so at least that it may not fail from any want of care on our part. It should be made strong in itself, and then it should be surrounded with an atmosphere congenial and friendly. For this reason I shall vote to keep it free from all State hostility and even State rivalry, that it may become in reality, as in name, wholly national. Sir, I am told that it will be unpopular to make this sacrifice, and ancient ghosts are paraded through this Chamber to frighten us from duty. Naturally, all who are against the proposed system will be against the seeming sacrifice. But the people are too intelligent not to see what is demanded by the best interests of the national currency; and unless I greatly err, they will insist that what we do shall be so done as to make our work most effective and most triumphant, to the end that victory may be certain. It is on no narrow ground that I make my appeal. I speak for a national currency which shall be to the whole country like the horn of abundance; and I plead for it now, as essential not only to the general welfare, but also to the common defence. Mr. Fessenden replied to Mr. Sumner with severity. On the other hand, Mr. Chandler, of Michigan, recognized as a business man, said: “The country owes the Senator from Massachusetts a debt of gratitude for his patriotism and statesmanship. He has risen above small matters, above local, petty interests, and has come up to the standard of the broadest statesmanship, in the argument he has just delivered, which is one of the ablest financial arguments ever delivered on this floor.” Mr. Sumner’s amendment was lost,--Yeas 11, Nays 24. The amendment of the Committee was then agreed to,--Yeas 29, Nays 8. BRANCH MINTS AND COINAGE. SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON THE PROPOSITION TO CREATE A BRANCH MINT IN OREGON, APRIL 29, 1864.